


Just a Cuppa

by lezzerlee



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: Community: ae_match, M/M, Memories, Missing Persons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-09
Updated: 2011-08-09
Packaged: 2017-10-22 10:25:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/237085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lezzerlee/pseuds/lezzerlee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eames' cup is the only thing he leaves behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Cuppa

It is Eames’ favorite cup, with good reason. It is as garish but understated as the man himself. A paradox of subtle patterns marked out in grand colors; it can hide itself in plain sight. Arthur’s surprised he hasn’t broken it yet, the way he only catches it in the corner of his eye right  
before he’s about to tip it off the table. It’s always in his way, in the worst place at the right time. Just like its owner.

Was.

Arthur keeps having to remind himself that it  _ was _ Eames’ cup. That Eames  _ was _ always in the way, somehow. That Eames  _ infuriated _ him — past tense. Because it’s Arthur’s cup now to sit precariously on the desk. It’s his to break if he ever knocks it off. And Arthur would get rid of it, to save himself the pain, but the damn cup is the only thing he has, because it’s the only thing Eames left in the warehouse.

Arthur can’t go to Mombasa to grab some of Eames’ clothes, to keep them for the way they smell of Eames’ aftershave and detergent. He can’t break into the flat in England to get that photo of them from that trip to Thailand, smiling uninhibited for the camera. He can’t go home to New York, even though he knows nothing of Eames’ will be there anymore .

Because he has a job to do.

He shouldn’t need these items anyway. It’s not as if Eames is dead. It’s not as if Arthur has any excuse to cling to material objects like they are a lifeline. He won’t embarrass himself by chasing after Eames. He’s a professional, and he’s doesn’t leave when a job is half done. 

But he can’t seem to help himself from fixating on the cup, like it’s the last thing Eames touched. And he doesn’t even like tea, has always been a staunch coffee drinker — white with one sugar, thanks — but he places a bag of PG Tips in it to steep because that’s what Eames would drink. Cobb doesn’t say anything, though Arthur knows he notices from the sympathetic expression he gives whenever Arthur looks up after catching himself staring at the steaming tea.

Cobb doesn’t say  _ he’ll turn up _ like Ariadne does, trying to reassure. He doesn’t say  _I’m sure he had his reasons_ like Yusuf does as he tinkers with distilling and mixing. Because Cobb knows what it’s like to lose a person. Which is the worst part, that Arthur has lost Eames. He can’t track him anywhere. None of Eames’ aliases have popped up, none of Eames contacts have heard from him. Arthur’s not surprised that Eames can drop off grid; he just never thought Eames would hide from him. 

Arthur doesn’t know when or if Eames will show, will give any clue as to his whereabouts. He doesn't know if he can forgive Eames for leaving him in the dark. So until then, he has this damn cup that he’s trying not to break. He has this cup that he makes tea he won’t drink in. He has this cup that reminds him that he was forgotten, left behind. 

He has this cup that reminds him of Eames. 

 

art by [shiroi_ten](http://shiroi_ten.livejournal.com)

**Author's Note:**

> Beta'd by the fantastic [dialectical](http://dialectical.livejournal.com)  
> There is also [podfic](http://soundcloud.com/templemarker/just-a-cuppa) of this by [templemarker](http://templemarker.livejournal.com)!


End file.
